Fasting and Feasting

Growing up in the church I never really understood what the big deal was with Lent.  The only thing I knew was that it was the season when one was supposed to give something up for 40 days before east.  Usually it was some personal indulgence like coffee or candy, or maybe some habit one was trying to change like watching too much TV or sleeping in late.  There would always be those people at lunch who would order water because they were struggling through the fact that they had given up Diet Coke for Lent.

 I still believe that there is a “deny ourselves” aspect to Lent.  When we get really honest we might be able to see just how much we are a medicated and distracted people.  Beyond the classic “alcohol and drugs,” in our culture today we use everything from food, iPods, X-Box, sports, shopping – the list is endless – to escape our stresses and calm our fears. 

Pope John Paul II once said, “It is Jesus you are seeking when you pray for happiness.”  If true, then maybe some form of self-denial during Lent helps us to answer Jesus’ question of, “Do you love me more than these.”

 But I am also learning that Lent is not just about fasting, but also about feasting.  The 40 days of Lent places us with Christ during his 40 days of fasting in the wilderness as he prepared for the Cross.  So let’s look at the story a little closer (Matthew 3:13 – 4:11).

 Right before He leaves for the wilderness, John baptizes Jesus in the Jordan River.  Before everyone present God the Father declares out loud, “This is my beloved Son, and I am well pleased with him.” God called Christ his beloved before He had even done anything publicly, which shows us that our identity in the Father is not based on what we do, but who we are and who God is. At the end of His wilderness wandering, Satan enters a battle of Scripture interpretation with Jesus.  At one point Jesus declares, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

 Do you see the connection?  Before he began his fast, he heard the word of the Lord calling him the Beloved.  And so maybe during his 40 days of fasting these were the words of the Lord that Christ feasted on.

 The goal of lent goes beyond self-improvement.  Lent places us in the story of Christ, where we deny ourselves for the sake of our love for Christ, all the while feasting on the words of the Father calling us the Beloved. 

If you are fasting during this season of Lent, pray for the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of your heart to see more of what is going on with this story of Jesus in the wilderness.  It looks like fighting Satan, but it is really about dealing with God.  It looks like temptation, but is really deliverance.  It looks like fasting, but is really feasting.

One way to feast on Scripture as a community this Lent can be found on the Asbury Seminary Reader website.  Every day during the 40 days of Lent and the 50 days of Easter you will find a prayer, a reading from the Gospel of John, and some writings from the saints who have gone before us.  Check it out and enjoy the feast...

A First Fast

Every Wednesday this semester we feature reflections and stories written by some of our Catalyst interns. Today's post is written by senior Sarah Gipson:

I’ll admit, when Gregg and Omar suggested that we fast as a Community, I was not thrilled. In fact, I had a horrible attitude about it. Having never fasted before, I felt as though it should be a decision that I chose to do – not something that was asked of me.

After griping a bunch to my friends, I read a chapter about fasting in the book “Soul Feast” and met with Omar during our weekly mentoring time, and he explained some of the aspects of fasting to me. We talked about how I could still be a part of fasting with the community based on the physical need for food my job as a swimming instructor requires of me. He suggested that I simply fast lunch, and eat a small meal before I had to go teach at the pool that evening.

My attitude had improved much by this point, but still not probably where it needed to be. It’s interesting how God works. I’d made all these excused why I couldn’t even try it, and lo and behold, those things slowly started melting away. My last swimming lesson of the evening got moved ahead and hour and my lifeguard training for that evening got cancelled. I was starting to get the hint. Maybe this could be a way for me to branch out a little in my faith. I was going to give it a try.

Thursday morning came. I ate breakfast just as Omar had suggested. Then came lunch time. This semester I’m supposed to have a standing lunch date with my best friend Kelsie on Thursdays, and when she asked if I was free, I had to decline. Then I got a second lunch invitation. I definitely felt like I was being tested. But I stuck it out – and made it through lunch! Alright… I was doing okay. But then… my stomach started to growl… lots. I had some fruit juice in my bag, and so I decided to drink it… and boy did I. I chugged it. Big time. Enter defeat here.

After I got home from class that afternoon, I ate my small meal as Omar had suggested. I felt as though I had missed the whole point of the fast. When I got to the Wesley Chapel that night and shared in a meal with my fellow interns, I felt as though I was the biggest Fasting Faker of them all! None of them had eaten ALL DAY, and here I had eaten twice!

So what have I learned? Honestly, like a lot of things, I’m just not sure yet. Maybe the whole point was for me to be stretched out of my spiritual comfort zone a little. To try something other than reading a few verses in my Bible and writing in my prayer journal… Maybe my time was supposed to be spent thinking of those who go without meals daily, and are thankful when they are blessed with an opportunity to eat. I’m really not sure… but I do know that God will reveal it to me in such a personal way that only I can understand – He’s pretty good at that.

Bread for the Journey

As we begin the 40 days of Lent, many of us will try to keep a fast. But what kind of a fast does the Lord ask of us? Believing that Scripture is part of our daily bread, let us being our journey into the wilderness with the words from the prophet Isaiah:

"Shout! A full-throated shout! Hold nothing back—a trumpet-blast shout!
Tell my people what's wrong with their lives,
face my family Jacob with their sins!
They're busy, busy, busy at worship,
and love studying all about me.
To all appearances they're a nation of right-living people—
law-abiding, God-honoring.
They ask me, 'What's the right thing to do?'
and love having me on their side.
But they also complain,
'Why do we fast and you don't look our way?
Why do we humble ourselves and you don't even notice?'

"Well, here's why:

"The bottom line on your 'fast days' is profit.
You drive your employees much too hard.
You fast, but at the same time you bicker and fight.
You fast, but you swing a mean fist.
The kind of fasting you do
won't get your prayers off the ground.
Do you think this is the kind of fast day I'm after:
a day to show off humility?
To put on a pious long face
and parade around solemnly in black?
Do you call that fasting,
a fast day that I, God, would like?

"This is the kind of fast day I'm after:
to break the chains of injustice,
get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
free the oppressed,
cancel debts.
What I'm interested in seeing you do is:
sharing your food with the hungry,
inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on,
and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.
The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer.
You'll call out for help and I'll say, 'Here I am.'

"If you get rid of unfair practices,
quit blaming victims,
quit gossiping about other people's sins,
If you are generous with the hungry
and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,
Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,
your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.
I will always show you where to go.
I'll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—
firm muscles, strong bones.
You'll be like a well-watered garden,
a gurgling spring that never runs dry.
You'll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew,
rebuild the foundations from out of your past.
You'll be known as those who can fix anything,
restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,
make the community livable again.

Isaiah 58:1-12

The Message

Ashes to Ashes

Every Wednesday this semester we feature reflections and stories written by some of our Catalyst interns. Today's post is written by sophmore Sam Meadors: 

Let’s play a little game of word association. Super Tuesday… what day comes after Tuesday? Wednesday… Ash Wednesday in fact. Ashes… rising from the ashes… phoenix… Harry Potter. I am fairly certain any word association could eventually end up with Harry Potter, but I thought I would share my process.

Anyway, unless you have been living under a rock for the last decade, you are familiar with the story of the Boy who Lived, Harry Potter. Over a quarter of a billion books have been sold in 200 countries and 60 languages. I admit I am among Muggle readers of the magical series. One of my favorite magical characters is Dumbledore’s pet phoenix, Fawkes.

Fawkes is a beautiful bird. As a part of his abilities, Fawkes can be reborn. In the first book, Fawkes battles the Basilisk with Harry blinding it with his beak. His tears (also magical) heal Harry’s puncture wound. In the fifth book, he swallows a Killing curse in order to save his owner Dumbledore. He bursts into flames and returns as a chick out of the ashes. Later in the series at his beloved owner’s death, Fawkes sings a song of lament before disappearing forever.

Although she claims not to have written a Christian novel, J.K. Rowling certainly created a character with extreme Christian symbolism. Namely the phoenix is an ancient representation of Christ’s resurrection. Think about it. Fawkes shows up at the time when Harry Potter needs him most. Likewise, we see Christ metaphorically flying into our lives in times of disarray and despair. Both have healing powers. Just as Fawkes gave of his life for Dumbledore, Christ gave himself up for all of us. Christ alone has truly risen from the ashes to eternal life. As you go about your Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten season, “Remember, O man, that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return.” Mostly though remember the good news and the real phoenix, Jesus, who overcame death and promises the same for all who believe in him. 

God Among

One of the things that pulls me to Jesus is the magnetic draw he had on people who had been otherwise repelled by religion. In him they were quick to recognize a power greater than their suffering, sorrow, emptiness, addiction or sin. By him they were touched, embraced, and restored. Through him they knew that God was not beyond them; God was among them.

It’s interesting to me that Jesus chose to be among those repelled by normal religion. Could he have chosen to do the Father’s kingdom work without ever rubbing shoulders with the neglected and rejected? I guess so, but, as one theologian has said, the true nature of love is seen its response to the unattractive. It was the compassionate love of Jesus, full of grace and mercy, which compelled him to enter the personal spaces and the suffering places where normal religion dared not go. Jesus does not decontaminate the environment before going into it. He just walks in. I wonder if God’s rescue and restoration operation works best in non-sterilized situations (look at the leper in Luke 5 as an example).

Following Jesus’ example, we shouldn’t think of ourselves as part of normal religion. Following Jesus is about outward movement toward people who wonder if they’ve broken their lives beyond repair, who lay in bed at night asking if God really cares, who go through each day hoping someone will notice their existence, or who feel they can’t get through another day without popping some pills or taking another drink.

Our Life Communities have the potential to be this kind of mission outposts for God’s restoration, authentic Christian communities sprouting up in dorms, Greek houses, apartment complexes, and cafes—communities in which people know that God is among them.